Pickering's Paul Davison to play Ben Woollaston after first round victory at the Betway UK Snooker Championship

PICKERING'S Paul Davison will fly the flag for North Yorkshire in the second round of the Betway UK Snooker Championship after an impressive win over Gary Wilson.

Davison had been laid low with tummy trouble in the build up to the game but produced a gritty display on his 'home patch' to win 6-3 against a player ranked number 37 in the world.

The prize for his victory is a cheque for £5,000 and a second round clash against Ben Woollaston, the number 26 seed from Leicester, on Sunday afternoon.

"I still don't feel 100 per cent but I feel miles better than I did," he said. "And not feeling great maybe took a bit of pressure off me - I just went out and thought 'sod it' really."

Davison, who only qualified for this year's World Snooker tour after coming through Q School, lost the opening two frames as Wilson posted breaks of 64 and 126.

But the 45-year-old stepped up his game and took a 4-2 lead before Wilson fought back in the seventh frame.

Wilson had to be warned about his conduct by referee Ben Williams following an angry reaction to a missed pot that opened the door for Davison to hit a frame winning 57 break in the eighth. The Newcastle-based player stamped his cue on the floor and sighed 'why aye man!'

"He gets a bit frustrated sometimes but we all do, " commented Davison. You just have to cope with that if it happens.

"It's a bit awkward sometimes playing your good mates. We practice together a lot and he is a great player and a great lad. I was over the moon just being able to compete with Gary because he is a class act."

Davison settled the match by potting the final pink at the end of a nervy ninth frame.

One of four matches staged in the sports hall yesterday morning, Davison - who had picked up his stomach bug at last week's Northern Ireland Open - appeared to be struggling in the early stages.

He also disappeared to the dressing room less than three minutes after returning from the interval!

"I was busting," he laughed. "It was cold in there before the interval so, once we have some water, it comes straight through you. When you have got to go, you have got to go!"

Davison blamed a lack of heating in the sports hall for exacerbating the problem: "The heating was not on this morning but an official went and put it on so I started to feel my hands again. That made a difference to me.

"At the start of the game, I couldn't hit a barn-door with a banjo. Once I got some frames on the board and a bit of confidence, I felt pretty good, a completely different player."

Although the majority of supporters headed to the main hall where last year's runner-up Liang Wenbo and three-times champion John Higgins were both in action, Davison still had the backing of his friends and family.

"There were about half a dozen lads from the York League here - which I didn't expect because it was a morning match and everyone is at work," he said. "But one or two had taken the morning off and that bit of support was nice in a small arena.

"There was also one lad I know from Filey who had come through. He brews his own beer but had called on his way to making a delivery!"

Davison will play his next game at the weekend and should now be able to practice properly after his first round preparations were disrupted by illness.

"It was a surprising win, considering how I have been feeling," he said. "I only had two or three half day's practice and I couldn't get out of bed for three days last week. Hopefully, I will now be able to get two good practice days in."

In other results yesterday, Ken Doherty, the 1997 World Champion, suffered the indignity of a 6-0 defeat against Thailand's Noppon Saengkham.

Three-time champion John Higgins and last year's runner-up Liang Wenbo both won in the main arena against Alex Borg and Kurt Dunham, respectively.

Grimsby's Stuart Carrington lost 6-5 to China's Yan Bingtao and Martin Gould, winner of the German Masters, beat Gareth Allen.

Ricky Walden won 6-0 against Xiongman Fang and Robin Hull won 6-1 against Jamie Cope.

Mark King, winner of last week's Northern Ireland Open, was docked a frame during his defeat against Sam Craigie after returning from the interval without a cue and delaying the re-start.

Australian Neil Robertson starts his defence of the title tonight against Leeds-based Peter Lines.

This afternoon's highlights include Stuart Bingham against Adam Stevanow and world champion Mark Selby in action against Andy Hicks.

Tournament sponsors Betway, meanwhile, have launched 'Crazy Snooker' featuring Neil Robertson and Mark Selby. The game is available to play in the Barbican's Cue Zone from Saturday until December 4.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hccdMmIBWqs

Betway are also offering snooker fans the opportunity to win prizes in an interactive snooker quiz game called Baize of Glory.

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